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Hi friends and lovely readers! Today, I’m talking about something that’s been weighing on my mind since I started this blog: sustainable and ethical fashion’s diversity problem.

The sustainable and ethical fashion community is so wonderful and full of awesome, creative, and thoughtful folks, but it’s also not that diverse. And while I think this space is generally more progressive and cognizant of social issues than the rest of the fashion industry, sustainable and ethical fashion that doesn’t include people of color isn’t as revolutionary as it could be.

I’m also excited to introduce you to a brand that’s addressing fashion’s diversity problem head-on: Proclaim! But first, let’s talk about why we need more POC in sustainable and ethical fashion.

In the past five months, I’ve learned a lot about sustainable and ethical fashion. If you’ve followed along, thanks so much for learning and growing with me. What I’ve realized from talking to this community is that a lot of you are interested in learning more about sustainable and ethical fashion, but have no idea where to even start—and my blog has been a messy diary of my own fumbling journey into slow fashion, rather than a comprehensive guide.

I want restitchstance to be your starting place (like it was mine!), and a space where we can learn and help each other do less harm with more style. From now on, I’ll work to create more informational content to guide your slow fashion journey, in addition to styling and lifestyle inspiration.

Today, we’re going back to the basics. Let’s talk about what sustainable and ethical fashion is in the first place and why it matters.

So you care where your clothes are made and how, but can’t afford to buy organic cotton, artisan-made, fair trade everything? Yeah, me neither.

Before I began my slow fashion journey, the aspect of sustainable and ethical fashion that seemed most daunting to me was the price tag. But I’ve since learned there’s more to this conscious fashion lifestyle than just buying from (usually pricey) brands that tout their sustainability and ethics.

Here are some tips to help you be a more conscious consumer at any budget!

Recent Posts

Hi friends! It’s been a long time coming, but after extensive testing I’m excited to finally share my thoughts on Girlfriend Collective’s LITE leggings.

The LITE leggings are the softer baby sister of Girlfriend’s classic compressive leggings. Made out of recycled fishing nets rather than recycled water bottles, the material is thinner and more breathable for higher impact activities.

The website has mixed reviews, so I was apprehensive myself about springing for a pair—but Girlfriend generously offered to send me a pair of LITE leggings to test out since so many of you were asking about them!

I believe that conscious consumerism can be even more impactful when we approach it with an anti-racist and intersectional feminist lens. Shopping BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Color – more context here) and woman-owned brands helps supports these communities in a world where wealth and power are mostly centralized in the hands of white men, while supporting more ethical practices.

This Black History Month, I’ve curated a list of ethical and sustainable Black-owned brands that you can support any time of year! Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference 🙂

I have always been a messy person. Every space I’ve inhabited—my childhood bedroom, my college dorm room, my current apartment—has been a victim of my tendency to cover every horizontal space with stuff.

So, with an admittedly skeptical mind, I read Marie Kondo’s famous self-help book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

And, I am now pretty convinced that tidying up will change my life. Surprisingly, I also learned a thing or two about conscious consumerism from Marie Kondo.

In their first drop of 2019, Reformation kicked off the year with a new style they’ve dubbed the “May dress.” According to the website, the dress is “a tight fitting, mini length dress with a mock neck collar, frog closures and short sleeves.”

According to Chinese people, that’s a qipao (also known as a cheongsam)—a traditional dress most often worn for formal occasions.

As one might expect, when Ref posted a photo of the dress on a white model on Instagram, the comments section blew up in outrage. And as one might, sadly, expect, Reformation hasn’t issued any statement in response, or pulled the dress off their website; in fact, the dress is on their front page.

Yup, you read that right. One whole sweater, in seven days, with my two hands.

You might be wondering if I have knitting machine hands or something, but the secret is simple: Big yarn and big needles. Not only are extremely chunky knits the very definition of cute and cozy, they also knit up super quickly.

I reached out to Wool and the Gang to try one of their chunky sweaters, and they sent me their Eden Jumper kit.

When I think about shopping more consciously, I’ll admit that my electronics and tech don’t top my shopping list. I’ve happily given up my fast fashion addiction to embrace slow fashion, but taking a more conscious approach to the gadgets that power my life, my career, and this blog is mostly uncharted territory for me.

This is partly because I find shopping for clothes fun and do it on a regular basis, but rarely buy new electronics. It’s also because, compared to the overwhelming selection consumers have when it comes to fashion, there are narrower options when it comes to the electronics we buy.

I recently learned about Nimble, a company that takes a more thoughtful and conscious approach to consumer electronics and tech, and I’m thrilled to partner with them to share their story with you.

The annual celebration of consumerism is upon us again! But while Black Friday and Cyber Monday have a reputation as horrific displays of mass consumerism, they are also an opportunity for many of us to buy ethical and sustainable goods that may otherwise be out of our price range.

Best of all, most of these brands are online…so you can skip the crowds and lines and shop from your bed!

I’ll be listing Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for ethical and sustainable brands here. Bookmark this page and check back throughout the weekend for updated sales.

About me

I’m a lifelong writer and practitioner of slow fashion. From an early age, I learned to design and make my own clothing through knitting, crocheting, and sewing, gaining an appreciation for the connection between mind, hands, and cloth that fast fashion subtracts from the modern conscience of style. Restitchstance is the confluence of my passion for storytelling, love of fashion, and desire to create a more sustainable and ethical world.

No matter where you’ve come from, Restitchstance aims to make slow fashion and living exciting, accessible, and inclusive through education and inspiration.